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2025 County Report

Fires in Kootenai County, ID

In 2025, fire departments serving Kootenai County responded to 1,104 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.2M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

128,523 residents FIPS 16055 49 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
1,104
6,247 across 5 years
Building fires
146
142 wildland
Property loss
$18.3M
$13.1M structure · $5.3M contents
Casualties
2 / 13
2 civ deaths · 7 civ inj · 6 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.

1,104
Total Incidents
Building fires 146 13.2%
Authorized controlled burning 119 10.8%
Unauthorized burning 88 8.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 79 7.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 62 5.6%
All other categories 610 55.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Kootenai County?

Jul peaks. May dips.

Jan 69
Feb 79
Mar 78
Apr 105
May 51
Jun 54
Jul 170
Aug 140
Sep 108
Oct 109
Nov 60
Dec 81
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Kootenai County

6,247 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,536
2022 1,162
2023 1,259
2024 1,186
2025 1,104
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 146 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
115
Cause undetermined
22%
59
Intentional / arson
9%
24
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
31
Under investigation
12%
32
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $8.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Kootenai County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 62% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,200,000 Hayden Building fires Major
2 $1,000,000 ATHOL Building fires Major
3 $1,000,000 ATHOL Forest, woods or wildland fire Major
4 $1,000,000 COEUR D ALENE Building fires Major
5 $869,360 COEUR D ALENE Building fires Major
6 $800,000 HAYDEN Building fires Major
7 $610,780 Hauser Building fires Major
8 $610,780 Hauser Building fires Major
9 $500,000 POST FALLS Building fires Major
10 $500,000 HAYDEN Building fires Major
06 How Kootenai County compares

Kootenai County vs ID vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.59
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Kootenai County
8.59
ID avg
8.41
US avg
7.15
1.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Kootenai County
1.14
ID avg
0.8
US avg
0.82
15.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
Kootenai County
15.6
ID avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Kootenai County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 16055.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Kootenai County

7 departments report from this county.

Northern Lakes Fire Protection
Hayden
FDID 55342 294 incidents 33 paid 6 vol
Spirit Lake Fire Protection D
Spirit Lake
FDID 55338 104 incidents 9 paid 25 vol
Timberlake Fire Protection Dis
Athol
FDID 55352 52 incidents 7 paid
Worley Fire Protection Distric
Worley
FDID 55336 44 incidents 6 paid 13 vol
Hauser Lake Fire Protection D
Hauser
FDID 55346 25 incidents 1 paid 18 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in ID

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Elk Mountain 2007 BLM 578,403
2 LONG BUTTE 2010 BLM 305,994
3 Mustang Complex 2012 USFS 287,852
4 SODA 2015 BLM 279,111
5 Diamond Pt Complex 2000 USFS 234,315
6 Pioneer 2016 USFS 188,404
7 PADDOCK 2024 BLM 187,184
8 Halstead 2012 USFS 179,308
9 Clear Creek 2000 USFS 164,755
10 Moose 2022 USFS 130,197

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.